Tuesday, May 5, 2009

The only reason we started was because Roman earned an award in school that came with several months of free karate lessons. Since he isn't currently in other extracurricular activities, we thought we would go ahead and let him do this before we move.

I'd never considered karate for him. He's done swimming lessons and tennis lessons in the past and we loved both of those. (Yes, we can see our very own Roger Federer in him. But we are being good, quiet, non-psychotic-push-your-kids-to-their-breaking-point parents.)

The first day of karate, I was worried.

Roman is a quiet kid. He's very subdued and very shy. He's been like this since he was very little.

So, taking my quiet, timid child into a room of screaming, "kie-yah"-ing kids scared us both. Roman was so shy, he couldn't even crack a smile, not even on demand. He would get so scared when people talked to him that he wouldn't look them in the eye and couldn't follow directions.

I sat at the edge of the mat, wanting desperately to run out and protect him. It's painful to watch his instructor say, "No, look at me when I'm talking to you. No, look at me."

But it's good for him. He's already more confident. He is able to go and introduce himself to other students. He's starting to smile in class.

Maybe this is just what he needed.

Now, I just have to control the urge to push through all the other kids and hug him.